Some opinions needed

[Logeth]

Hi there!

In this period, God is really delivering me of the fear of men, of intimidation and anxiety. I have some dreams, from time to time. Firstly I didn't take them in consideration but one day I dreamed how some fiery swords are hitting a church and split it and after that I found out that the church split indeed, so I became more aware of them.


In my last dream I was with my dad. All my life I feared him in a bad sense, because he is very harsh and he tormented me all my childhood. In my dream, I put my hands on his solders, looked in his eyes and said I was afraid of you many years and I let your control and manipulate me, but I will not allow you to do this anymore." I was very calm when I said that and I taught that he will get mad and hit me but, instead, he was calm too, even smiling in a cute way. I don't remember what he told me.

So, would you take this dream in consideration? If yes, does it have to do only with my dad or can it be a confirmation of what God's doing in my life?

 

[MastersPiece]

Hi Logeth,
Yes this does seem to be about you overcoming the spirit of fear & intimidation and I believe the Lord is showing you a day is coming when you will be able to address that fear head on. In addition, there is symbolism in you putting your hands on his shoulders - this indicates you placing the responsibility for what happened throughout childhood back onto your dad (shouldering a burden). Children tend to blame themselves when their parents treat them poorly and carry that burden all their lives feeling as though they were 'bad' or not good enough. But that is the furthest thing from the truth. It is our parent's faultiness which causes them to not be able to love us in fullness as children. It is not the child's fault.

There may be another aspect to your dream as well. Often times when we grow up with a father who is mean or intimidating, we take those feelings towards our earthly dad and transfer them to our heavenly Father. It's quite natural for us to do this. For instance, my dad was whimpy and never protected me growing up..so as a Christian, I had a sort of expectation that God would not protect me either or even talk to me much. But Abba has been proving Himself to me - He talks to me constantly now and says He's about to take down those who attack me. So I'm learning to trust Him through this. Likewise, I wonder if you might have some unconscious or even conscious unhealthy fear of God because of what your dad was like growing up? I believe God is going to set you free of that also.
God bless you as you go forward in Him

 

[Logeth]

Thanks a lot for the answer. It makes sense. I do blame myself and also almost everytime I think I am not good enough and that is my fault that my parents didn't have a good relationship. I also know that I see God through the lenses of my father's behavior. I always expect God to punish and to reject me and I still have difficulty in accepting God's love or even His care.

Thanks.

 

[MastersPiece]

Thanks a lot for the answer. It makes sense. I do blame myself and also almost everytime I think I am not good enough and that is my fault that my parents didn't have a good relationship. I also know that I see God through the lenses of my father's behavior. I always expect God to punish and to reject me and I still have difficulty in accepting God's love or even His care. Thanks.

hi precious,
I very much understand. It is good that you recognize these things. Now it is up to the Lord to help you change the thought patterns. I believe He is going to bring you great breakthrough in this area.
Oh how I wish parents & caretakers knew the damage they are doing to their children when they shame and abuse them.
God bless you, Your heavenly Papa deeply loves you and is fiercely protective of you. Continue to draw near to Him and ask Him to break down the walls in your heart which keep you from sensing His great love.

 

[paul1149]

Hi Logeth,

I think MP's interp is very good. I would also emphasize another aspect of putting your hands on your dad's shoulders - that of becoming his equal. You no longer stand under him, but on his level. You no longer are bound to the role he carved out for you, you have a heavenly Father whose intentions for you supersede those of any man, and Christ has set you free to walk in them. This coming to full stature and full individuation is clearly shown by you looking into your dad's eyes. You are standing up to him, standing up to the issues he represents in your life, standing up to the fear, and coming to freedom thereby.

A truly great dream. It shows the way forward for you.

 

[Logeth]

@Masterpiece- thank you again! I really hope He will!

@paul1149 Thanks for your answer. I think I didn't really understand; how may I see my father as an equal if he is in authority over me? I know he hurt me, but he is not even a believer...can you explain again? Sorry if I annoy you.

 

[paul1149]

When we are young, parents have great authority over us. They don’t have complete authority, as the authority of the state overrides them in certain matters, but they have the ability to shape us profoundly as no one else can.

But as we grow older and interact more with the world, we come under other spheres of authority. We still remain under parental authority to a varying degree, but we take on more responsibility for our own decisions. This is a process of maturation and individuation.

Finally, when we bow to the claims of Christ on our life, we accept the greatest authority over us. Jesus said that he who loves parents more than Him is unworthy of Him. He also said that he who does not hate his parents cannot be His disciple. He was saying that loyalty to Him and His intentions for you must supersede all other authority, no matter what its earthly source.

How that plays out is up to each one of us to figure out. Some have a relatively easy time making God their greatest authority, and may have parents that actually cooperate with that process. Others have a great struggle against traditions, generational strongholds, and designs of parents that are at odds with God's truth. But we all must at some point put our parents in their rightful place lower than God in our lives (Gal 5.1). It should be done respectfully (Gal 6.1), because our parents occupy the role in our lives that God made for them, but it should be done. The ground is level before the Cross. That's what I see in this holding your Dad's shoulders and looking him in the eyes.

 

[Logeth]

Thanks. I understand it now. It is true that, because my parents are not believers, I sometimes don't do things I feel or I know that I have to do from God because of fear that they will get angry. I am scared because I know that, for example, I am called to missions, but I am still scared to tell my dad that I`m going to church:o. I really hope I will overcome this.

Thanks!

 

[paul1149]

You're welcome, Denisa. May the Lord give you wisdom to know how to proceed - how to "apprehend that for which [you] have been apprehended" - and courage to make it happen. We get dreams like this to help us understand the situation we are in, and to show us what must be done to overcome. They are to guide and encourage, but we need both faith and wisdom in order to put it into practice. Prophetic dreams can help us in spiritual warfare, according to 1Tim 1.18.

 

[Logeth]

May I ask you something else? How do you know when a dream is from God or not? I sometimes instantly know it is from God, but in some cases I can't discern if they are just something subconscious or my desires or stirred up by the things I've done during the day.

 

[paul1149]

The first ironclad rule of dream interpretation: stay away from pepperoni pizza! Just kidding.

The truth is I often don't have a blatant classification of a dream's origin. And that's ok. The spiritual often acts alongside the natural, and it takes discernment, sometimes over time, to be able to separate the two. For a dramatic example, take a look at Acts 16, where it took Paul days to discern that a slave girl who was affirming the Gospel actually was possessed by a spirit.

The lesson is to keep focused on the Lord, and meditate on what the prophesy may mean. As Paul tells us, "always try to discern the will of the Lord". I have had some very terrifying dreams - the exact opposite of what I wanted from the Lord at the time - which, after a season of meditative processing, the Lord used very mightily in my life to encourage me during an extremely difficult season. It certainly didn't hit me that way initially, I assure you, but in searching it out I found the gold. "it is the glory of God to conceal things, and the glory of kings to search them out" -pr 25.2. God ALWAYS is looking out for our wellbeing, and can turn ANYTHING for the good if we keep looking to Him (Rom 8.28).

This leads directly to the character qualities of persistence, patience, endurance, faith, faithfulness, and all the other fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5). Get into and guard your position of rest in Christ, and trust that He is advocating for you. The battle is the Lord's, and He will not let you fail if you keep trusting in Him.

 

[Logeth]

Thank you!